A communication network typically includes at least one base station and numerous wireless communication devices. The base station provides a wireless communication device with services necessary for communication and data transfer to other devices in the communication network. Services provided to the wireless communication device may include, but are not limited to, voice-based services, internet services, short messaging services, or multimedia messaging services. Typically, the wireless communication device first registers on a communication network available at a ‘home’ geographic location and operated by a service provider. Then, the service provider allows the wireless communication device to access a particular service through the communication network, if the device is registered for that service.
Wireless communication devices can move out of the coverage area of this home communication network and move to areas covered by other communication networks operated by other service providers. In such a case, a wireless communication device is said to be in a ‘roaming’ mode. The service provider operating in the home network enters into agreements with other service providers so that a wireless communication device can access one or more services from other networks while in roaming mode.
Many methods are known for selecting a “best suited” communication network for a wireless communication device when it is roaming. In one such method, called ‘manual selection’, a user of a wireless communication device selects a non-home communication network from a list of available communication networks. In another method, a user defines preferences for selecting from available networks. Examples of user preferences are number and type of services provided, service cost, power consumption, signal strength, etc. Based on the user preferences stored on the wireless communication device, it selects a non-home communication network.
The methods described above can lead to a non-home communication network receiving registration requests from wireless communication devices that subscribe to a particular service on their home network but do not have roaming agreements for that service. Overloading of the non-home communication network through excessive registration requests may lead to diminished quality of services provided by the communication network. Moreover, scanning for non-home communication networks that ultimately will not provide the requested services, adds to the battery usage and processing load of a wireless communication device.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements, to help in improving an understanding of the embodiments of the present invention.